MLS teams learn fate after 2011-2012 CONCACAF Champions League draw

A number of places are still to be determined in next season's CONCACAF Champions League, but when those moving parts all get settled, they'll know exactly where they're going.

Despite three Caribbean spots, one Canadian spot and one Nicaraguan spot still up for grabs, CONCACAF conducted the draw for the 2011-2012 tournament on Wednesday. MLS sides FC Dallas and Seattle will face Alianza FC (El Salvador) and San Francisco (Panama) in the preliminary stage, respectively, while Colorado and Los Angeles, who automatically qualified for the group stage, found out who else will and may eventually be in their groups.

The Canadian champion, which will be either Toronto FC or the Vancouver Whitecaps, will be paired with a Nicaraguan side, either Real Esteli or Walter Ferreti, in the preliminary round.

Here are all of the preliminary matchups and the group draw for the 2011-2012 CONCACAF Champions League:

While the Galaxy will try to not get embarrassed again in this competition, something tells me that The Bruce wants an MLS Cup more. If the GC causes LA some problems in the standings BA will divert all of his resources to MLS and let the youngin’s do more of the CCL stuff. I hope I am wrong, but I just get this feeling like this LA team will be changing soon and they want an MLS title more than anything else.

Group A looks like it has the potential to have packed houses all the way around, if Pumas and Municipal qualify. Pumas are the 3rd most popular team in Mexico, and Municipal would have alot of fans due to the high number of Guatemalans in LA. As for the Costa rican team, dont know if they have alot of supporters comparable to Saprissa. However, I guess I should hope for Pumas in the same group with Dallas since they really need the crowds (for or against). You know there will be 1300 people for the Tauro game. Which brings up another issue: having a draw for group stage. I think concacaf should strategically place teams in groups according to turnout and rivalries.

Have you clicked the link? Did they the draw at one of their kid’s schools before a parent teacher conference and take the picture with a cell phone camera? Gotta love CONCACAF, screw making the your premier club tournament look semi-legit with some computer graphics.

I agree with you that #3 should be table related and not playoff related BUT look at it this way . . .

Last year Real Salt Lake was that 2nd place team in the table . . . but they were beat out by #3 Dallas in the playoffs who wound up securing that CCL play-in spot by beating the Supporters Shield winner the following week.

alianza FC???? are they any good? could they beat FC Dallas?? i certainly hope FCD gets through becuz it would set up a home date vs the Mexican Clasura Champions (Pumas-Monarcas) which would be a great draw for FCD considering all the mexicans in Dallas

The only 2 MLS teams built for this tourney aren’t in it…RSL and RBNY… Seattle might have a chance if they can get some reinforcements, but Sigi never takes this competition seriously and neither does Bruce A. for LA. Colorado’s midfield will be outclasssed.

There should be two Colombian teams there. Yeah I know columbia is in s. America. But with all the colombians in MLS, extending two invites to them would be a natural fit. Hey, Mexico isnt in conmebol either. What do we get from colombia: the continuation of a stream of quality players. I say pay for two invites from Colombia straight into the group stage. Can you imagine the kind of crowd there would be if NY were in it with a team from colombia. Red bull arena would be rocking.

thats kind of a real good point Taylor Gut: the idea that older MLS teams or MLS coaches and managers who run deep into MLS’s past may not have the sort of respect for CCL that your newer teams such as RSL have. But of course, these two American coaches wouldnt have the sort of respect for international club play that those who have coached or played in Europe or S. America would have. Given MLS’s history with superliga and all these Mexican friendlies on US territory, some Amer. coaches probably see the command from MLS HQ to take CCL seriously as just another attempt “to try to convert the Mexican-american fan to MLS”. Yep, fire Arena.

Since you brought that up they should be careful with MLS teams braking legs. There will be an all Mexican semi-finals unless CONCACAF makes them eliminate each other like they did to try and help RSL, it dint work though did it? Monterrey won even without 5 of their starters.

When rooting for a team you want to win it all. The US Open Cup, Supporters Shield, MLS as they represent the best as far as local priorities go. RSL had the chance of winning what to me elevates an organization, the concacaf championship which would grant you the opportunity to play at the end of the year to win by far the most important tournament a club can win the Club World Cup(I can hear all the snobs bringing the european champioship). So i ask, if the idea is to play for all the marbles, does it not make sense to have the finals played cloer to the end of the year instead of April where the winner will likely be playing at their best?

The one advantage to having a 10-team playoff is that FC Dallas, Colorado, and Seattle, who should be in a safe position to make the playoffs but maybe are not competing for the supporters shield, can pay more attention to the CCL without worrying about MLS regular season.

All I’m sayin is they dint have to face Mexican teams in knockout stages, because CONCACAF put them all in one side of the bracket voluntarily to give RSL and Columbus a chance to advance, it would have been another story if they did a fair draw and I hope the determine this years CCL knock
Out stages with a draw

Red bulls or not, the great soccer writer Tim Vickery said that only Columbian players are ones he sees on TV saying that going to MLS would be a good option. Thats obviously due to the history of columbian players in MLS- something perhaps you should read up on. So I’m saying it helps MLS secure an even greater stream of future great Columbian players by including them into our international tournament in the same way that Mexicans are included in copa lib.

Yes, because MLS teams have actually done what in Concacaf. Costa Rica has had one team go to the World Club tournament (Saprissa) and 2 teams win Concacaf (Alajuela and Cartago) and play the Comebol Champs before the was a Club tournament. MLS? (crickets….). RSL couldn’t even keep a tie at home